Grizz, also known as the Big Horse, is ready for spring.  Here he is, looking debonair on a little road trip to Ogdenburg NY, at a roadside park on the Oswegatchie River.  Grizz was an owner surrender by someone who'd inherited him from a neglectful owner.  As a result Grizz loves attention and especially loves a car ride with his person.  He was adopted through Mountain Rottie Rescue in upstate New York, as were his two doggie siblings, a Rottie sister and a "Nottie" brother.  MRR works to place homeless dogs of all breeds with new families.

Day 8. Potsdam, NY, USA to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. 198 miles.

A day with a significant errand which I accomplished by overcoming a small difficulty.

Left Maple Rock B&B full to the brim with home fries, fruit, yogurt and home made granola and my first ever french toast. A send off by Jake and Audrey which I rather spoilt by heading in the wrong direction for a 100 metres.

This time I set my Google maps to fast and furious and hit the highway with a vengeance reaching the border at Ogdenburg by midday. I pay a toll to a bored college girl who shuts her cabin window on me to return to the air-conditioning and her phone.

The bridge has a metal deck that causes the bike to wobble precariously. I pull up behind a Canadian couple on a Triumph Tiger and she exclaimed, 'I wondered what was coming to us, so tall! But you are tall!'

Dixon, the border guard, asks me some detailed questions about my intentions in Canada as well as my drug and gun running habits. He gets interested towards the end and decided to stamp my passport. No-one else gets a stamp!

I find my way to Radikal Motorsports where they are very matter of fact about ordering tyres and checking the bike over. It has done by rough estimate 1590 miles since Johnson City so no need yet for an oil change as it's a WR250R not a KTM.

Having dropped off the bike I call Enterprise to have them collect me. They can't because they have booked me for next weekend and there is no car available. They recommend waiting for a while to see if one is returned. I wait for an hour reading Harley Davidson accessories magazines before trying them again. They put me on hold for 15 minutes which is when I start to look for another hire car. Budget have one at a cheaper rate and the owner of Radikal books me a taxi, 'It's going to be Bob's Taxis but you are not going to get Bob!'

'Bob' is in fact Robbie, a Lebanese guy who has lived in Canada for 24 years. He tells me about his back packing days, of staying in Cambodia, Australia, all 40 of the mainland States and Uxbridge, Middlesex.

Robbie has a Lois Pryce philosophy, 'All the media says about other countries is bullshit, everywhere people are nice. They always call people terrorists, always Muslim terrorists. Are there no Christian terrorists. If you go backpacking you travel with people, understand how they live their lives and what's difficult. There's always going to be conflict and poverty but the media distorts this to the ends of governments trying to exert influence and power.'. Right on Robbie, Right on.

Budget have me in a car in 5 minutes and I strip and get out of my motorcycle gear at the roadside.

I have just got time to get to our Airbnb by the Rideau River, unpack the car, put a wash on, have a shower before I am back into Ottawa to meet Carolyn.

She disembarks from the Quebec train looking chic in white dress and pearls. I made it and it was worth it.

Back at our home for 4 days it's time to relax, catch up on our travels and watch a baseball film about Kurt Russell's dad, Bing Russell and the Portland Mavericks. A home from home.

Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center recognizes <b>physical therapists</b>, <b>physical therapy</b> aides

OGDENBURG — October is “Physical Therapy Month” and Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center is taking time to recognize physical therapists and ... from Google Alert - Physical Therapy https://ift.tt/2RlybBa

The Diocese of Rochester ended its voluntary program to compensate victims of child sexual abuse Thursday, a move that could invite a greater number of lawsuits being filed by victims. The diocese's reconciliation and compensation program, formed at the direction of the church hierarchy, aimed to settle claims from people who said they had been sexually abused as children by priests or other church figures. The purpose was to offer a non-confrontational way to resolve claims without costly litigation. About 30 people have entered into the settlement process, the diocese said, and compensation has been awarded in at least a half-dozen cases. Diocesan officials told the Democrat and Chronicle on Feb. 5 that the program had no set end point. But on Thursday, a statement from the diocese said it would accept no new applicants for compensation. The move stunned Leander James, a well-known lawyer in sex-abuse litigation circles who has represented most of the 30 or so people who have availed themselves of the settlement program. "Wow. This is big news. They didn’t even inform me," James said in an email Thursday afternoon. "Very strange. The diocese only has two other options: Litigation or bankruptcy." In its statement, the Rochester diocese said it was ending the program in light of the passage of the Child Victims Act, a long-discussed state law that will make it easier for victims of child sexual abuse to bring suit against those they feel are responsible for their abuse. How abuse lawsuits could bankrupt New York dioceses New York's unusually restrictive statue of limitations previously made it very difficult for such victims for sue successfully. The new law, signed Feb.14 by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, liberalizes the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse and opens a one-year window, starting in August, during which any victims can file suit. The diocese began its reconciliation program a year ago, well before it was certain the Child Victims Act would be adopted, spokesman Douglas Mandelaro said Thursday. The underlying idea, he said, was that "victims had no other recourse." Diocese to assess path forward Once the law was passed by the state Legislature in January and signed by the governor a few weeks later, the need for the reconciliation program was diminished, Mandelaro said. "It is time to assess our path forward as we prepare to respond to the Child Victims Act," he said. Former state Supreme Court Justice Robert Lunn, hired last year by the diocese to serve as the independent arbiter of the claims, said it was understood from the beginning that the process would have a finite lifespan. Adoption of the Child Victims Act was a reasonable point for the diocese to "hit the stop button," he said. James, the lawyer, speculated Thursday that the diocese's decision was related to a dispute that arose recently when the diocese sought additional input in the settlement process. Under the process he adopted, he met with victims and their lawyers, and reviewed investigative reports and written statements on each case provided by the diocese. As first reported last week by WHAM-TV (Channel 13), the diocese had asked for the right to present countervailing arguments to Lunn after some victim hearings. James said he had opposed the idea. Lunn said the idea didn't seem to have much merit, but felt he could continue to perform independently with or without the additional diocesan input. Lunn said he had no reason to believe the disagreement had anything to do with the diocese's decision to end the settlement program. Mandelaro concurred that the two weren't related, and added that diocese had asked for the chance to provide more input in cases where the accused church figure was deceased or incapacitated and thus not capable of providing a defense. Even though the settlement programs in New York's eight Roman Catholic dioceses addressed about 1,500 claims, the dioceses have been expecting to be deluged with lawsuits over sexual misconduct by priests, deacons, nuns and other church figures. Cessation of Rochester's program with only 30 cases heard could swell the number of suits filed here. Lunn said he had issued final written decisions in 6 or 7 cases, with awards of compensation being granted in all of them. He has two or three more decisions to write plus another half-dozen cases for which hearings must be scheduled. The balance of the 30 claims filed in Rochester are in the investigative stage. Those cases will be referred to Lunn for hearings and decisions. The total number of claims heard in Rochester will fall well short of those in New York's other dioceses. The Albany diocese handled 100 claims, Syracuse about 90, Buffalo at least 50 and Ogdenburg 50, according to figures compiled recently by the Democrat and Chronicle. The archdiocese, which covers Manhattan, the Bronx and the Hudson Valley, processed well over 300 claims. The two dioceses that encompass Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island had in the neighborhood of 750 claims between them.

Tobacco cessation counseling offered Jan. 26 in Ogdenburg - North Country Now

http://dlvr.it/N9jwPp